New Reports Call Tamir Rice Shooting “Unreasonable And Unjustified Use Of Deadly Force”

Lawyers for Tamir Rice‘s family have released two outside reports that call his shooting “unreasonable,” contrary to reports released earlier by the Ohio prosecutor, according to The New York Times.

The reports, which were released Saturday night, run counter to three previous probes ordered by the prosecutor’s office that determined that “the shootings were tragic, but reasonable,” the report says.

The shooting by ex-Cleveland police officer Tim Loehmann follows the ongoing narrative about police violence in communities of color, which has sparked a national movement. Loehmann started firing at Tamir while he was playing with a toy gun on a playground.

Samaria Rice, the mother of the slain 12-year-old, who is scheduled to testify before the grand jury on Monday, said the reports confirmed her suspicions. She noted “the experts’ emphasis on the officers opening fire within two seconds of coming upon her son,” writes the New York Daily News.

“The shooting of Tamir Rice was inconsistent with generally accepted standards and norms in police practices and … it was an unreasonable and unjustified use of deadly force,” reads a report written by law enforcement expert Roger Clark. “The killing of this child was completely avoidable and preventable, and should never have occurred.”

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Rice family lawyer Earl Ward sent the reports to Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty Friday as the lengthy grand jury investigation into Rice’s death limps along.

The reports contradict two others released by McGinty’s office last month that concluded the two cops, Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback, acted reasonably. McGinty claimed he pushed out the reports in the interest of transparency, but Ward has argued it was part of a calculated effort to muddy the grand jury process.

In a letter that accompanied the reports, notes the News, Ward said the findings “will likely not undo the damage already done to the grand jury process.”